Ah, there you areexactly when we didnt expect you! bellowed David Clarke, his voice echoing off the kitchen walls. If youre not going to stay, you might as well go back the way you came!
Dad, what on earth? Ive been away for twenty years and you treat me like a surprise guest! Andrew Clarke stammered, eyes wide.
If it were up to me, Id have met you with a belt round the waist! David snapped, reaching for his belt. Never mind, well sort this out right now.
Hold on a minute, easy does it! Andrew took a step back. Im not a fiveyearoldI can talk sense!
Thats the spirit! David chuckled, abandoning the belt. Youre the kind who attacks the weak, runs from the strong, deceives the good and grovels to the wicked.
Really, whats got you so cross? What do you think Ive done? Andrew shrugged. Even if Id done something, twenty years have washed it clean. Times a great eraser.
Easy to say when the guilts on your side. You want everyone to forgive you, but Ive got no forgiveness to spare, David declared.
And what could I possibly have done to you? In the naval school I was always thinking, Why have my parents branded me a traitor and banned me from coming home? They never replied to a single one of my letters! Andrew protested.
Do you even understand? David teased.
Andrews expression said he was lost for words, but before he could clarify, a shout rose from the hallway.
Enough of this! shouted Margaret Clarke, her voice sharp as a winter wind. Youve brought trouble home! Send him off, Tom, if you mustour reputation cant survive this!
Andrew froze, as if turned to stone. Margaret added, If God gave me strength, Id have snatched you by the scruff and set you straight! Looks like the Almightys aiming his jokes at you, you dimwit! She pointed at a bruise blossoming under Andrews eye.
Well done, someones got a knack for awkward timing! David smirked. Id give him a pat on the back for that.
Parents, whats going on? Andrew shouted. Have you lost your marbles? Ive been gone two decades! Why this sudden cold shoulder?
Who told you that? David asked. Well chase you out, then thank the lucky soul who helped us.
Do I even know who they are? Andrew snapped. I was on the coach home, when old neighbour Tommy recognized me and ran over to greet me! The bus stopped, a lad leapt out, jammed a fist into my face and bolted. By the time I collected myself, hed vanished.
Brave soul! David laughed. Well have to ask Tommy who gave you that whack.
Dad, is this really all you care about? Andrew retorted. Just because I was away for twenty years, you think I can just disappear?
And why, exactly, are you needed here, you traitor? Margaret interjected.
Am I a traitor? Andrew asked, bewildered.
Because shouted someone from the kitchens dark recess.
Whos the brave one now? Andrew growled.
A figure stepped into the light.
That cheeky lad gave me a black eye! Andrew pointed at a lanky youth.
Good lad, my boy! David beamed. You didnt miss a beat!
What grandson are you talking about? Andrew recoiled.
Exactly this one! Margaret shielded herself, pointing at the youngster. Your son! The one you left behind!
I have no son! Andrew protested, his voice shaking. Never have I had one! And if I did, Id know.
Think back, you ran away from the village twenty years ago! David shouted, his tone cracking.
***
Andrew never called his departure a runaway. It was a planned relocation that was simply cut short for a few reasons.
He had to travel faracross most of Englandto attend a marine engineering college. Hed earned a modest stipend, but it barely covered a decent life, and asking his parents for money across the country was impractical. They could send food, but who could ship a sack of potatoes half a continent away?
There was a second reason. Just before he left, the village was awash with unsuitable courting. Young women were swarming, and hed rather quit than be caught in that frenzy.
When asked why, hed say, I want a life by the sea, not one stuck at home watching the garden gnomes fight over the rose bushes.
His sea career began after school when he was conscripted into the Royal Navy. He served enough time to realise land wasnt for him. Upon discharge, a placement card for a technical college landed in his pocket, promising a future as a ships mechanic.
Before starting, he decided to enjoy a last taste of freedom. Young lads after service are known for their wild nightsdrunken brawls, reckless dares, the whole lot. The only thing they fear is losing consciousness; everything else is a laugh.
Andrew watched those parties and vowed hed never become a drunken oaf. He even sewed his own belt and tightened his bootlaces with a bolt to keep himself in check.
There were hurdles, of course, but its better to struggle abroad than to suffer at home forever.
His clean record made him popular with the villages young ladieshandsome, ambitious, and with a solid plan. No scandal marred his reputation.
He was courted from all sides. Families sent delegations to arrange matches, promising alliances through marriage. Andrew saw this and realized he couldnt hold the line. He either fled or got knocked down. So he slipped away from the village a month and a half early.
As they say, better safe than sorry!
He arrived at the port, secured a berth in the dormitory, filed his paperwork, enrolled, and wrote home to say hed made it, got a job, and was fine.
The reply was a furious letter, calling him a traitor and a coward, slamming him with every unkind word the post could hold. It even claimed he had no parents left, that his home was gone, and that a bloke like him belonged at the bottom of the ocean.
Baffled, Andrew kept writing, begging for an explanation. No telegrams came back.
He kept at it, studying, earning his diploma. Then a single, halfscratched note arrived: May you drown! Traitor! Coward! It was signed not by mum and dad but by David Clarke and Margaret Clarke.
He never learned exactly why, but it was clear: his family didnt want him back.
So he signed a naval contract and never returned. Every six months hed dock in a big city, send another letter home, then sail away again. Replies stopped arriving altogether.
At forty, he finally cared more about uncovering the mystery of whod bit his parents twenty years ago than about any new posting.
The reunion turned out to be far from warm, full of unexpected twists.
***
What were you running from? Andrew mimicked. Did you think Id never marry anyone? Did you conspire with half the village to pair me off?
I saw the gifts, heard the promises! You knew I was heading off to study, yet you still tried to rope me in! David barked.
We wanted you to settle down well, but you made a mess of it and fled! Margaret snapped. Find someone else, a stray!
She claimed shed visited me just after I left, asking for advice because I was supposed to be expecting a child. And we, what? Throw our own grandson to fate?
When did you show up? Andrew asked. A month after I left, I mailed you, and you told me not to return!
Natalie wrote us saying she was pregnant! And you told her to have an abortion, to disappear from your life! David retorted.
Interesting, Andrew said dryly. And what about after you banished me from the house?
We took her in! Shes an orphan, no family, carrying our grandchilds future. We raised Stan, see? Margaret pointed at a lanky youth.
Summon Natalie, then, Andrew demanded. We need to sort this out.
Theres no one left to sort with, Stan said. My mother died ten years ago. Grandparents raised me.
Right, brilliant, Andrew shook his head. And your son met his dad eyetoeye!
You barely killed my mother by leaving her pregnant! Stan shouted. At least my grandparents turned out decent.
So youre all saints, and Im the only traitor?
And a coward too! David added. You were scared of responsibility, ran away, and sent a poor girl to an abortion!
But Natalie told us shed given birth to a son! And you called her a liar in your last letter!
Did you see the letter? Andrew asked.
Unlike you, we believed that poor girl, Margaret replied.
Fine, if youre all about truth, lets do a DNA test, Andrew suggested. Otherwise I cant prove Im right. If Im the father, you can hang me on the gate!
The test came back negative. Andrew handed the results to his parents.
Clear as day? he asked. Natalie knew I wasnt the father, but she came to you anyway.
The problem isnt that you believed a lie; its that you accepted it and called your own son a traitor and coward!
For twenty years you never forgave me, and now you dont need my forgiveness! I might feel pity, but even thats gone. Farewell, as you already said twenty years ago!
Andrew boarded the ship; Stan stayed behind, milking the old folks and insisting he was their beloved grandson, claiming the test was wrong and that his mother was a saint.
And that, dear reader, is how it all went.
